


Christmas is an Excuse to Tolerate Snow

by gunslingaaahhh



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Christmas, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-12
Updated: 2011-12-12
Packaged: 2017-10-27 06:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/292696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gunslingaaahhh/pseuds/gunslingaaahhh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written as part of <a href="http://gunslingaaahhh.livejournal.com/342623.html">Merry (Fucking) Christmas</a></p>
    </blockquote>





	Christmas is an Excuse to Tolerate Snow

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of [Merry (Fucking) Christmas](http://gunslingaaahhh.livejournal.com/342623.html)

Steve is still on the phone when he walks into the house, chatting with Mary. She isn't coming to Hawaii for the holidays, and he can't leave the islands to go see her. It's typical, it's them, and they're exchanging their usual pleasantries.

He's barely hung up when he walks into the living room and stops dead, eyes widening comically.

“Uh... Danno?” he says, seeing only the bottom half of his partner, the rest obscured by fake pine boughs.

Grunting, Danny scoots back until he can sit up, face a little red from being bent over for so long. “Yes, Steven?”

“What're... what're you doing?”

Danny makes a face, one that says 'I'm disappointed in your character' as well as 'why do you ask me such stupid questions.'

“I'm setting up the tree, what does it look like?”

“You... that's a fake pine tree?”

“Are you really going to ask me questions you already have the answers for? Aren't we past that point? Yes, this is a fake pine tree because – last I checked – pine trees aren't indigenous to Hawaii. I refuse to decorate a palm tree for Christmas, and while I don't usually like the fake trees, it's best we can do.”

He ducks back under the tree, fiddling with the base until he makes a satisfied grunt of approval, extracting himself for real after that. He comes to stand beside Steve, a look of pride on his face. Steve still feels a bit poleaxed.

“I don't understand...”

“Steven! It's a fucking Christmas tree! What is there to understand? Though honestly, this one is really good looking, can't really tell it's fake until you get up close... I picked up some lights for it, since the ones with lights built in are cheating. I also invited Kono and Chin and everyone over to decorate and whatever, y'know, tree-lighting.”

Danny babbles on about eggnog and gingerbread houses and ornaments, and Rachel dropping Grace off to participate in the party. Steve doesn't say anything, just stands mutely staring at the tree now dominating his living room. After a point he turns and makes his way upstairs, leaving Danny sputtering in confusion. He ensconces himself in his bedroom, locking the door behind him.

Last year's Christmas... had left something to be desired. Of course, Chin being alive and all of them being together had been a better gift than anything material, but it was the first Christmas in a long time that Steve was back in Hawaii and not with his father. He'd gotten over it, and had completely forgotten about the holiday and it's traditions until the moment he walked in and saw the tree Danny had set up.

Now... well. There was no question that Danny was involving him fully in his own holiday traditions – no doubt dressing up as Santa for Grace – and bringing the whole team into things, as well. It was slightly overwhelming, especially in the house.

His house, what was once his father's house, and where he'd celebrated family Christmases right up until the year his mother was killed. Blinking slowly and shaking himself, Steve felt his shoulders sag with the knowledge that the house hadn't seen a real, true Christmas for a very, _very_ long time. It was a depressing thought.

Ignoring the knocks to his door, Steve curled up on his side and closed his eyes; he needed to escape for a while.

~*~

Hours later, and Steve awoke to the sounds of laughter and the smells of food. His stomach rumbled, forcing him to get up and look in. From the upstairs hall, he peeked over the bannister and saw his living room full of people: Kono, Charlie Fong from the lab, Chin and Malia, Max, Lori, Danny and Grace, Kamekona, Joe, Amy and Billy Hanamoa. He's shocked, slightly, though he knows he shouldn't be. If Danny was good at nothing else, there was always his ability to bring people together.

Everyone is talking and eating, Grace and Billy watching a Rudolph special on TV. Danny's got a radiant smile on his face, talking animatedly with Joe about something.

Something in Steve's belly clenches painfully; it's house, but he doesn't feel like he should be there. Like he's looking in one someone else's life. He's interrupted in this thoughts when Malia taps him on the shoulder. He only barely hides it when he jumps.

“Been wondering where you were!” she says quietly, aiding in keeping his presence unknown for the time being. “Danny said you'd gone to take a nap or something.”

“Yeah... when did you all get here?”

“Oh, not too long ago; maybe two hours? I'm sorry no one came up to get you, we've already eaten, though there's _plenty_ left over,” Malia tells him, smiling gently. “Come down, I'll make you a plate.”

“Oh, no, you don't have to--” Steve tries, feeling awkward.

Malia shakes her head firmly. “Don't be ridiculous, get down here.” She grabs his wrist and tugs him down the stairs, the two of them quietly making their way into the kitchen. She directs him to sit and begins pulling ziploc bags and tupperware containers out of the fridge, taking a little from each and spooning it onto a plate. Steve tries several times – unsuccessfully – to say it's too much, he'd never finish it all, but she tuts at him until she's satisfied, putting the place in the micro. While it the food heats up, she pours him a glass of eggnog.

Steve's arteries cry out in agony. He must make a face, because she laughs at him. “C'mon, one glass won't kill you... I can spike it if you want! So much better that way.”

“It's bad enough on it's own,” Steve replies, smiling a little as he takes the glass. The food smells amazing, and he's inhaling it almost as soon as the plate hits the table. Malia chuckles, sitting down across from him.

“So, Danny wanted to wait until you joined us before we did the tree.”

“What exactly are we doing to it?” Steve asked around a mouthful of food.

“Decorating it; everyone brought a little something to put on. Y'know, candy canes or ornaments or pictures, things like that. The lights are already on, but Danny was pretty adamant about not turning them on until everything else goes up.”

Steve grins at that. “Christ, I take one little nap and he takes over like he's king of the island.”

“He's got it all planned out,” Malia laughs, glancing out towards the main room.

“You can head back in, I think I can handle it from here,” he tells her. Smiling, Malia stands and comes around the table, bending to give him a kiss on the cheek. Flustered, Steve feels himself blush slightly.

“Don't linger, everyone wants to see you,” she calls over her shoulder before disappearing back into the living room. Steve watches her go before diving back into his plate; he was hungrier than he'd realized.

He's barely finishing cleaning up after himself and tucking whatever was left over back into the fridge when Grace comes running into the kitchen, the color high in her cheeks.

“Uncle Steve!” she shrieks, launching herself at him. He catches her, swinging her up into his arms, the two of them laughing.

“Hi, Gracie! Sounds like you're having fun.”

“Lots! Are you ready to do the tree now?”

“Sure, why the heck not,” Steve grinned, carrying Grace with him back out into the living room. There are choruses of 'hello' and 'how are you' and 'where have you been' as he settles himself onto the couch, grinning up at the smiling faces around him. It feels better than he could've imagined.

“Alright, now that his royal highness has graced us with his presence,” Danny starts, cheeks flushed from spiked eggnog, “let's get this show on the road! Who wants to go first?”

“I do, Danno!” Grace chirps, digging a home-made ornament out of her bright pink purse. It's made from macaroni and glitter, and Danny looks full to bursting with pride. He lifts Grace and she pauses, looking for the best place to hang her ornament. She decides, hooking it onto a pine bough. Danny blows a raspberry against her neck before putting her down. He calls out a “next!” and one by one, everyone puts something on the tree.

Steve watches, warm and safe and _happy_ as his friends add their own decorations to the tree; some are home-made, some are store-bought; some are a little weird – Max – and some are a little goofy – Kono. Eventually everyone has hung something up, and the tree doesn't look as naked as it did before. As Danny maneuvers his way around to turn on the lights, Steve realizes he's the only person without something to decorate with.

There is a swell of panic in his chest even as the multicolored lights come on, drawing soft 'oohs' and ahhs'. It looks beautiful, little pieces of all Steve's friends and ohana twinkling against the lights. Someone turns on the stereo and holiday music fills the air, laughter and chatter filling the space.

Staring at the tree, Steve barely notices Danny sitting beside him. “Hey babe! Looks good, right?”

“Yeah, looks awesome.”

“What's the matter? I know that face; what happened.”

Steve shakes his head. “Nothing... just... I dunno, I'm the only one without something to put on the tree.”

“Well, since it's your house, technically you don't have to put anything on it... usually – and this is how my family would do it – whoever's house and tree it was, wouldn't put anything on. I mean, they're providing the space and the tree, you know?” Danny explains, body warm where it presses against Steve's.

“Oh.”

“Don't worry about it... but hey, if it's still gonna bother you, the damn thing doesn't have a star for the top. Maybe you can take care of that, since we all know I can't reach,” the shorter man winks, before leveling himself off the couch and over to a punch-bowl filled with eggnog.

Feeling slightly better at the thought of contributing somehow, Steve relaxes into the couch and watches the party. He smiles as a ball of mistletoe makes the rounds, laughs along as Lori pecks Max on the lips and causes him to blush furiously. He watches Grace and Billy fade into slumber, tuckered out from all of the silliness, the two of them sharing a blanket on Steve's old recliner.

It's been a while, but it would seem Christmas has finally come home.

-FIN-


End file.
